ARTICLES ABOUT WASTEWATER TREATMENT BY DATE - PAGE 2

Harford Community College is moving ahead with construction of its new wastewater treatment plant, regardless of whether it gets funding from the county for the project. Members of the college's board of trustees voted at their meeting Tuesday evening to award a contract for $3,653,172 to JLW Associates, of Leonardtown, as contractors for the construction of the school's wastewater treatment plant and associated infrastructure development. The approval carries a risk, however, as HCC is still waiting on $1.275 million in county funding.

Sun ignores improvements at Sparrows Point The Baltimore Sun editorial "Who's Minding the Point" (June 7) contained several inaccuracies about pollution controls and regulatory oversight at the Severstal Sparrows Point facility. Severstal Sparrows Point operates air and wastewater pollution controls that are the best technology available, extensively monitors the respective emissions and reports environmental discharges that have shown substantial improvement over the last decade. The records, which are readily available, show improvement that comes as the result of extensive efforts by the current owner, Severstal; previous owners since Bethlehem Steel; and the government officials responsible for environmental and public protection.

By Meredith Cohn and Meredith Cohn,meredith.cohn@baltsun.com | June 3, 2009

Maryland was handed nearly $122 million Tuesday from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to fund drinking water projects and improve water quality as part of the federal government's latest round of stimulus spending. The stimulus effort, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, was advanced by President Barack Obama to jump-start the economy by improving the nation's infrastructure and creating and saving jobs. The money has begun steadily flowing to states through a variety of programs that are expected to improve roads and schools, as well as waterways and other programs.

By Larry Carson and Larry Carson,larry.carson@baltsun.com | May 17, 2009

A three-year, $100 million effort to cut levels of nutrients coming from Howard County's wastewater treatment plant in Savage got under way Thursday with a ceremonial groundbreaking. More than five years in the planning, the project will use waste from a nearby ice cream plant to help produce enough bacteria to sharply reduce the nitrogen being emitted with wastewater from 3,900 pounds a day now, to 830 pounds per day in 2012, when the work is completed. Reuse of some treated water will also help by diverting it from the Patuxent River.

Inmate who confessed to 1994 killing sentenced An inmate who sent a letter to city police confessing to killing a man 14 years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in prison, to be served at the same time as his prior robbery sentence of 29 years. Robert Preston Howard, 40, of the 3500 block of Oakmont Ave., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of James Earl Singleton, 22. On Sept. 7, 1994, Singleton was found fatally shot in the 4800 block of Park Heights Ave. More than a decade later, while incarcerated in an Eastern Shore prison for five armed robberies, Howard wrote to Baltimore detectives, confessing to two murders.

The state Board of Public Works approved more than $1 million in grants yesterday for projects in Harford and Cecil counties that will improve water quality and supply in both jurisdictions, officials said. Harford will receive $490,000 to augment wastewater treatment in an area of Joppa where private septic systems are failing and causing public health and safety risks. Extending public lines into the Oaklyn Manor area at the southern end of the county will provide for better treatment and reduce nutrient pollution, officials said.

Five candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for three New Windsor Town Council seats up for grabs in the May 8 election. Incumbents Kevin Null and Steve Farkas are seeking re-election, but Councilwoman Charlotte Hollenbeck is stepping down. Town officials said candidates for the council seats were slow to file. The other three candidates include telecommunications technician F. Tracey Alban II, career firefighter Byron Welker and disc jockey and video production company owner Ed Smith.

The Maryland State Board of Public Works approved a $400,000 grant for Havre de Grace Wastewater Treatment Plant to upgrade and expand enhanced nutrient removal. "Awarding communities like Havre de Grace Enhanced Nutrient Removal [ENR] grants assure that the wastewater treatment plant will achieve critical nutrient reductions discharged into the Chesapeake Bay," said Kendl P. Philbrick, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment. The ENR project will expand the treatment plant's capacity from 1.89 million to 2.3 million gallons per day. The grant will be used to plan, design and construct an ENR system to achieve a goal of 3 milligrams of total nitrogen per liter of treated water and to get the total phosphorus down to 0.3 milligrams per liter before discharging to the upper Chesapeake Bay. Excess nutrients lead to degraded water quality, which affects the ecology of the bay and its tributaries.

Not only was it a dark and stormy night -- it was muggy, too. But that didn't stop the recently formed Friends of Back Creek Park from going to work. Members of the nonprofit organization met for several hours Wednesday night during intermittent thunderstorms to plant native grasses in the small Back Creek Park in Annapolis. "We had nine hearty souls dancing around the lightning bolts," said Mel Wilkins, a group member. The grasses, planted along the shoreline that the group had recently rehabilitated, will serve several purposes: They will be food for ducks and a place for fish to lay eggs, and they will prevent erosion, Wilkins said.

CENTREVILLE -- A Queen Anne's County grand jury has concluded that an aging sewage treatment plant here was grossly mismanaged for years but found no evidence of criminal wrong- doing. In its report, the jury criticized the Maryland Department of the Environment for relying too heavily on self-reporting by town employees of sewage discharges. The panel outlined a half-dozen recommendations for increasing scrutiny on small municipal plants, including hiring more inspectors and stepping up random and unannounced inspections.